The Raptors signed Julyan Stone to a two-year minimum deal (the only kind we can sign since we’re over the cap), where the second year is not guaranteed. I am nothing if not honest so I can say without hesitation that I only fleetingly remember seeing Stone play, and am not in a position to offer an opinion, let alone a critique of the player. However, I can with some great confidence predict that at some point in the next season Matt Devlin will use the phrase “Stone Cold” to describe both, a hot shooting streak and a cold shooting streak by Stone.

Scouting report
+ Long-armed wing with point guard’s ball skills. Can handle and pass.
+ Lousy outside shooter and just an average athlete. Good rebounder.
+ Pretty good on ball defender.

Analysis
An undrafted rookie, Stone didn’t get much run at the end of Denver’s bench but showed some signs in his limited action. In particular, his 8.3 assists per 40 minutes stand out, as does his phenomenal 44.1 assist ratio. The downside is that Stone can neither shoot nor score; he averaged just 8.0 points per 40 minutes and didn’t fare much better in three D-League games with Idaho.

Stone is already 23, and while he has some tools, his inability to score is what torpedoed his draft stock. He’s pretty good for an undrafted end-of-the-bench guy, but it’s still not clear whether his pros and cons add up to a rotation player.

Based on the scouting report and videos, all we can surmise is that Masai Ujiri must have seen something in practice, and that being a 6’6″ PG could be useful for obvious reasons, assuming he can do the basics. Expect nothing, be surprised.